- Tunisia: Political prisoner sentenced to two years for journalism
Source: The New Arab [UK]
“A Tunisian court handed down a two-year prison sentence to news website editor Ghassen Ben Khelifa, in the latest prosecution targeting media workers, a move the journalists’ union described as part of a ‘systemic’ attack on free speech. The SNJT union said on Tuesday that Ben Khelifa, editor-in-chief of the news website Inhiyaz, was charged with publishing false news in a case dating back more than three years. Ben Khelifa denied the charges, saying the case was fabricated and calling it evidence of a failing system.” (03/31/26)
https://www.newarab.com/news/tunisian-journalist-sentenced-two-year
- Hegseth lifts Army suspension of Kid Rock flyby pilots
Source: United Press International
“Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced Tuesday that helicopter pilots who conducted a flyby of musician Kid Rock’s Nashville estate over the weekend would not be punished, an abrupt reversal of the U.S. Army’s decision to suspend the Apache helicopter crews amid review of their conduct. … Rock published a pair of videos to social media on Saturday showing him cheering on a pair of Apache helicopters flying by and hovering near his Nashville estate, which he has called ‘The Southern White House.'” (03/31/26)
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2026/03/31/Hegseth-Kid-Rock-helicopters/5201775007536/
- Kidnapping of US journalist in Iraq linked to Iranian militants
Source: Politico
“An American journalist has been kidnapped in Iraq with the apparent involvement of an Iranian-backed militia, the State Department said Tuesday. Shelly Kittleson, a freelance journalist who has contributed to various publications including POLITICO, was seized from a Baghdad street, according to the Iraqi Interior Ministry, which said efforts were underway to recover her. … In a statement, the Committee to Protect Journalists called on ‘Iraqi authorities to do everything in their power to locate Shelley Kittleson, ensure her immediate and safe release, and hold those responsible to account.'” (03/31/26)
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/03/31/kidnapping-us-journalist-iraq-iranian-militants-00853116
- Exposing the FBI’s Human Experimentation Studies
Source: Racket News
“‘You’re only going to create a real problem for an FBI employee if you call ‘em direct this way.’ Senior FBI official Thomas Gregory Motta was upset that I dared to call him to talk about the bureau’s hidden experiments on humans. He joined the bureau in 1998 and was promoted to the FBI’s senior ranks nearly 20 years ago. During his tenure, the bureau has grown proficient at snooping on journalists — as documented in a secret government report published by Racket — without having to face their questions.” (04/01/26)
- Free Market Ozempic Will Make a Huge Difference to Tens of Millions of People
Source: CounterPunch
by Dean Baker“Ozempic sells for close to $300 for a month’s dosage in developing countries like China and India. It is expected to sell for around $15 for a month’s dosage when generics are introduced, and the price could eventually fall to around $3 when there is enough competition in the market. The price differentials in the United States and other wealthy countries are even larger. People without insurance can pay as much as $1,000 for a month’s dosage, although discounts are available that can cut this price in half. The drug still has several more years of patent protection in the United States …. With rare exceptions, drugs are cheap to manufacture and distribute; however, they can end up being expensive because governments give drug companies patent monopolies or other forms of protection.” (04/01/26)
- Tiptoeing Towards Abundance?
Source: Law & Liberty
by Samuel Gregg“Even when thriving markets are the goal, progressives have little interest in restraining the state.” (04/01/26)
- April Fools for America First? Higher Prices and New War
Source: The Daily Economy
by Stefan Bartl“The President returned to office on promises to lower costs at home and restore our reputation abroad. Americans got the opposite.” (04/01/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/april-fools-for-america-first-higher-prices-and-new-war/
- Yes, Iran Is Playing Chess – But Only After Rewriting the Rules of the Game
Source: Antiwar.com
by Ramzy Baroud“The origins of chess are contested, but few dispute that while the game began in India, it was the Sassanian Persian Empire that refined it into a recognizable strategic system. It was Persia that codified its language, symbolism and intellectual framework: the shah (king), the rokh (rook), and shatranj, the modern chess game. This is not a trivial historical detail. It is, in many ways, a metaphor that has returned with force. Since the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran on February 28, 2026, political discourse – across Western, Israeli and alternative media – has repeatedly invoked the analogy of chess to describe Iran’s conduct. The comparison is seductive. But it is also incomplete.” (04/01/26)
- Artificial Intelligence Hammers in the Final Nail in Karl Marx’s Coffin
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Andy Fischer“Karl Marx believed machines would eventually turn workers into something disposable. In The Communist Manifesto, Marx and Engels wrote that industrial labor had already reduced the worker to ‘a mere appendage of the machine.’ In Capital, Marx argued that machinery would create a permanent ‘industrial reserve army’ of unemployed workers. As automation increased, workers would lose bargaining power while capital consolidated control. The proletariat would become poorer and more desperate. From that condition, Marx believed revolution would follow. That prediction sits at the center of his entire framework. But history moved in the opposite direction.” (03/31/26)
https://mises.org/mises-wire/artificial-intelligence-hammers-final-nail-karl-marxs-coffin
- Why Do US Presidents Keep Risking Foreign Quagmires?
Source: Independent Institute
by Ivan Eland:During the past three-quarters of a century, beginning in 1950 and continuing right through to the current war with Iran, U.S. presidents repeatedly have risked involvement in conflicts that resulted in military quagmires with disappointing endings. Why do presidents keep repeating the same mistakes in the name of ‘national security?'” (03/31/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/03/31/presidents-keep-risking-foreign-quagmires/
- Every Argument Against Birthright Citizenship Is Hollow
Source: The UnPopulist
by Paul Gowder“In the end, every single legal argument for stripping U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants of citizenship fails. The 14th Amendment is clear. Donald Trump’s push to deny them citizenship status is yet another assault on the Constitution.” (03/31/26)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/every-argument-against-birthright
- Doing as they say, not as they do: The Trump administration’s golden passport problem
Source: Niskanen Center
by Cassandra Zimmer“The U.S. has every right to pressure Antigua & Barbuda and Dominica to reform programs that pose genuine national security risks. However, it does not have the credibility to do so while launching a program that contains design-level gaps that, if left unaddressed, create conditions for similar misuse.” (03/31/26)
- The Folly of Little Metal Men
Source: Desultory Scribblings
by Tyler Harris“The attempt to rechristen the DOD the ‘Department of War,’ it could be argued, is itself a hallmark of attempting to larp the tough guy while trivializing institutions the administration does not fully understand or value. I think the problem is deeper, however, than just immature bravado. I think senior civilian leadership in this administration has an overwhelmingly gamified way of thinking about war.” (03/31/26)
https://tylerjohnharris.substack.com/p/the-folly-of-little-metal-men
- Cato Daily Podcast, 03/31/26
Source: Cato Institute
“Congressional Feuding and Airport Chaos.” (03/31/26)
https://www.cato.org/multimedia/cato-podcast/congressional-feuding-airport-chaos
- Politics Politics Politics, 03/31/26
Source: Politics Politics Politics
“Can Trump Summon Congress to DC? Why the Military Community is Rosy on Iran (with Riley Blanton).” (03/31/26)
https://www.politicspoliticspolitics.com/p/can-trump-summon-congress-to-dc-why
- Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 03/31/26
Source: Antiwar.com
“US-Israeli Strikes Pound Civilian Targets in Iran, US Deploys 3rd Carrier to Mideast, and More.” (03/31/26)